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Irwin, now under Stanley Black & Decker ownership, has come out with a new line of Vise-Grip Fast Release locking pliers, featuring some changes and improvements compared to previous models.

The most significant improvement is made to the 10″ and 11″ Vise-Grip locking pliers, which have a “reduced hand span design,” which means that the handles are closer together and easier to grip when open. Irwin says that smaller spread makes it easier for gripping, squeezing, and releasing the locking pliers.

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The reduced opening width is said to be 20% narrower, with their example showing a 5.32″ opening span with one of the new pliers, compared to 6.98″ with the previous generation of Irwin Vise-Grip Fast Release locking pliers.

The reduced span allows for one-handed operation, which frees up the user’s second hand to hold work, or to support themselves on a ladder or when working underneath a vehicle.

Next-Gen Vise-Grip Locking Pliers Features

Best-in-class strength

Steel handle texture for better grip

Hex key adjusting screw

Fast release mechanism

Reduced hand span design in 10″ and 11″ models

Irwin says that the new pliers provide more comfort and control than their previous locking pliers.

Sizes and Styles

10CR, 10″ with curved jaws, IRHT82573

10R, 10″ with straight jaws, IRHT82576

10WR, 10″ with curved jaws and wire cutter, IRHT82578

7WR, 7″ with curved jaws and wire cutter, IRHT82580

9LN, 9″ long nose with wire cutter, IRHT82582

11R C-Clamp, IRHT82584

11SP C-Clamp with swivel pads, IRHT82586

2pc Set (10WR curved jaws + 6LN long nose), IRHT82588

Additionally, the pliers have a new minimalist lower grip design, which Irwin says is less susceptible to welding splatter, allowing them to be used in more welding and metalworking applications.

First Thoughts

I bought Irwin Vise-Grip Fast Release locking pliers a long time ago, and while they are easier to use than traditional locking pliers, I never felt compelled to buy a whole set of them. My standard Vise-Grip locking pliers still see regular use, although I prefer the unlocking lever of my Grip-On pliers.

There’s more going on with the handles than is immediately apparent. From the looks of it, there’s a new compound pivot, which is what reduces the spread of the handle. 20% might not seem like a lot, but I’d bet that welders and other repetitive users will feel the difference, especially those with smaller hands.

Do we really need updated Vise-Grip locking pliers? Sure? My use tends to be periodic and in short bursts, and so I can’t answer for someone that uses locking pliers in long sessions. Even so, I can appreciate one-handed opening and closing, as I’ve been known to brace against something to close wide-spreading pliers handles when my second hand was busy holding or holding onto something else.

Perhaps more importantly, it seems that Stanley Black & Decker is looking at their still-new tool brands’ product lines and asking “can we make this better?”, and that’s definitely a good thing.

Until they stop using that cheap soft metal they’ve used ever since they moved production to China, no amount of improvements will make these worth it. What’s the point when the teeth are KO’d on the first use because they’re made of Jello? I gave up on Vise-grips a few years ago and went Knipex and Snap-On. Pricey, but they last as long if not longer than the old Nebraska vise-grips were.

I’ve had surprisingly good luck with $4.99 Bremen 5″ pliers from HF. I carry 5″ “Vise Grips” all the time, along with a mini Maglite, and I’ve worn out several pairs-before and after the move to china. The Bremens seem to be heavier/thicker, and the jaws at least as hard as the new Vise Grips. Haven’t had these that long, but no complaints.

I have a large collection of Original Petersen Vise-Grips made in USA at the former DeWitt Plant and don’t intend to pickup any Irwin chinese crap until SBD bring manufacturing back to the USA and not just assembled in the USA.

I had a few petersons at the time ,then I grabbed a bunch of USA stock from Harry Epstein and ebay when I read of the closure of the Dewitt plant on this blog 10 or so years ago. Also had some hexkey USA/global component stock from the big box stores. Never bought the import version, for dirty disposable jobs I could always get dirt cheap kobalts on sale or HF, etc. I was not going to pay a premium price for a cheap import.
I’m looking forward to seeing the eaglegrips, I don’t really need anymore locking pliers but if the reviews are good I’ll grab a set.

I have seen a number of people comment about the hardness to the teeth being worse after production has been moved to China. My question is why would they specify a different hardness of the teeth when the production was moved to China. This is really a more general question for any tool manufacturing that has been relocated to China. Why wouldn’t you keep the same specifications when you send the manufacturing to another location? Is it just to save even more money? You are already cutting costs substantially by using the foreign labor.

It’s not really the hardness, it’s the metal alloy itself the pliers are made of that’s different, and you can only harden cheaper alloys so much before they are too brittle and will snap rather than simply wear/deform.

From what I’ve read, tools made in China are mostly made from recycled tools and other scrap metal shipped over from the USA and other countries. This is sometimes referred to as “chinesium” or mystery metal since it’s just an alloy made from lots of stuff rather than made from scratch for particular strength characteristics.

It’s fine for light-duty use, like lots of chrome vanadium stuff is, but one of the biggest differences between higher quality, higher priced tools and the cheaper China-made stuff is the metal itself, and you’re just not going to get a high quality metal from melting down lots of tools and other random scrap.

It is done for cost reasons, since high strength steel alloys, even in bulk, cost way, way more than buying scrap by the ton and melting it down.

I do like the recycling aspect of it, but the problem is volume of particular materials, since they usually can’t get enough high quality steel to melt down and make a whole run of new tools, which would likely also be high quality, so they just add a lot of lower quality metals as filler, and so you wind up with mystery metal.

The main thing is, the shape of the tool and the name on it are pretty much the same, so people who don’t know any better think the pair of Vise-Grips they’re buying are still the high quality stuff that came out of DeWitt decades ago, which is clearly not the case.

I appreciate your feedback to my questions. So my next question is why switch to scrap metal or lower quality metal? By moving to China you are already saving on the labor and other costs. Why not keep the quality the same? You would have, in theory the best of everything- high quality and a lower cost (although not the lowest possible cost). Is it because they do not have access to high quality steel? The only thing available is this mystery metal?? That doesn’t make sense to me. Why didn’t they start using mystery metal when they were still in the USA?

The answer is because lower quality steel is cheaper. Yes they saved a ton of manufacturing cost by moving to china, and they saved even more by cutting quality. Irwin is owned by a publicly traded company (SBD) which means ultimately the shareholder call the shots, and the shareholders only have one goal – short term profit.

Not entirely correct, as long-term (translation: DIVIDEND) investors (as opposed to traders – if you know the difference), ARE concerned with more than short-term profits. AND, absolutely NONE of them have ANY input on product design/materials/labor, thus, ABSOLUTELY no ‘shot calling’ from the shareholders.

Shareholders elect the board of directors who determine the direction the company goes in. No they don’t vote for the minutiae of everyday implementation but they are ultimately in control. Long term investors just means someone who is looking beyond the next quarter, it doesn’t necessarily mean someone who is looking to the next few decades.

Besides, if you don’t believe me, look at the results. SBD is knowingly selling chinese junk under the irwin brand to cash in on the brand reputation. As you can see from this page, word is starting to spread about the change in quality. It’ll probably take another decade before the general public wises up, at which point SBD will drop the brand and move on, having made a lot of money. Everyone, from the investors, executives, managers, etc will have made a ton of money.

I’d say you’re looking at this from a fairly optimistic point of view. The companies didn’t move production from the USA to China to save on labor costs and pass the savings onto the consumer in the form of high quality tools at a reduced price. They moved production to China to be able to make the product less expensively overall and charge the same retail price to people who don’t know any better, and make massively more money in the process.

From an engineeering persepctive, it’s certainly possible for a factory in China to get 100% high quality materials, and do the best job they can manufacturing a product, and end up with something equal or better than the same product made elsewhere, and do it for a lower cost overall. But that’s not enough when massive, massive profit is the goal, not a high quality tool at a fair price with modest profit.

Keep in mind all the other things that make a product like metal hand tools less expensive to produce in China besides lower labor and production costs – nearly nonexistent environmental regulations, laughable health and safety standards, and plenty of corruption where it counts to overlook everything else.

Newell-Rubbermaid was a poor owner of Irwin/Vise-Grip and really all they did was move production over to China and have cheaper quality copies of the iconic Vise-Grips made. That might not have been so bad if they had, say, kept the DeWitt plant open and still made as many as they could sell in the USA, and charge what they needed to for the workers to be paid and keep the lights on and still make a decent profit, while making the China-produced versions for more budget-conscious consumers and selling them at a lower price. But that’s not what they did, and I doubt SBD has any plants to do much else with the brand.

As mentioned above, I do suggest checking out the Eagle Grip pliers when they are available for sale. If they are high quality and worth the price, they would also be worth buying to send the only kind of message the corporate world understands – that consumers are willing to pay what high-quality USA-made locking pliers are worth.

Is there also a 20% reduction in the jaw opening span? Just looking at a pair of my DeWitt vise grips (the ones that didn’t have the stupid rubber grip thing) and I’m trying to figure out why they did this. What’s the reason for reducing the span when you can hardly get your fingers in between the handles now? I guess it would have to be one handed release if you forced your hand in the span to wedge it open but it also depends on how tight your grip is cuz I doubt it’s a one handed operation if you’re using maximum gripping force. I don’t see what was wrong with how they were before. This really looks like it was made out of boredom. I guess sbd has to do something with Irwin now that they own the brand. They’ve got to be bored out of their mind if this is the best they could come up with in order for them to try fix something that was never broken to begin with. Obviously they have very little interest in investing much money and effort behind r&d for Irwin. Why buy the brand if you’re not going to invest in it? Just looking at a pair of my DeWitt vise grips, the only thing that they could have done to reduce the span was either grind the fulcrum bar shorter or move the rivet up closer to the jaw mechanism inside of the handle channel. Wow! What a complete lack of brain power and innovative effort put into this. Let’s not even mention Lenox. Do they even exist anymore?

With the exception of file cards, Apex outsourced all USA made files, handles and everything else that had the Nicholson brand between 2007-2009. Rubbermaid completely shut down the Dewitt Nebraska plant that made USA made locking pliers in 2008. USA made Crescent brand adjustable wrenches ceased in that time frame as well.

Many manufacturers either off shored all or some production between 2008-2016. Boeing laid off a great deal of Americans to build one of their air crafts, only for the intellectual property to be stolen and lose market share to that variation. Fellowes suffered the same fate.

Unless it’s made in USA, I’ll pass. I bought a whole bunch of original Petersen Vise-Grips off Ebay and the Garage Journal Classified ads but need a couple more. I’ll wait for Malco’s made in the USA at the DeWitt Nebraska plant or made in USA Irwins. I had a Chinese made Irwin shear at the handle which sliced my palm when I was compressing a brake caliper piston and finished up with an old Petersen Vise-Grip. No more Irwins.